Anyone else just hate working, no matter what the job is?

[DrSheppard]

I'm in a pretty good job right now - the people are nice enough, the pay is very good, the subject matter is relatively interesting and it's flexible (can mostly work from home). But each and every day I struggle. I've felt like this in every job I have, and I've had a fair few! I dislike the routine of work. I dislike meetings and emails and workshops. I hate going into the office especially - I hate the glaring lights, sitting at a desk all day and the feeling of being boxed in. Even in the best of jobs I've had, this feeling never goes away.

I just don't care about work, frankly. I do what I need to do and always get great performance reviews, but I have zero investment in the outcome of what I do. Every day when I log off I breathe a sigh of relief, but the thought of doing this for the next 30+ years is awful. Sometimes I think about retraining but I really don't know if that'd 'fix' it, since I'm already in a well-paid and comfortable role and I've already dabbled in a fair few types of roles. Does anyone else feel this way?

I loved being a SAHP too. I gave up a good career - i wouldn't work with both OH and I having jobs involving long sporadic hours and lots of travel.

We were always active, going to playgroup, pinics and activities with other families, I started a small business while my kids were very small, just 10-12 hours a week, worked from home during their nap times, and a couple of hours at weekends when OH was home, but it paid for outings and ice creams.
It was good being out of the workplace, and I never did get back to it again, my youngest is now 23!

@NeedToBookAGetaway sounds good, just make sure the relative is making employers' contributions for you. If it is ad hoc they might not be.

Oh I’m glad I’m not the only one!
every job I havnt enjoyed mostly due to office politics and horrible management
most recent one third sector well
paid but soul destroying watching the team become more and more deflated as higher management chose not to listen!
endless meetings so people “looked busy” mindless debates over best way to do things and nothing gets done!

it is depressing to think that this is it till retirement age 😞

Oh I’m glad I’m not the only one!
every job I havnt enjoyed mostly due to office politics and horrible management
most recent one third sector well
paid but soul destroying watching the team become more and more deflated as higher management chose not to listen!
endless meetings so people “looked busy” mindless debates over best way to do things and nothing gets done!

This. Incompetent supervisors who were crap at managing people. Inadequate training. Inability to move people sideways (In very large organisations) to make better use of skills if not well suited to a job. Snide remarks from (granted a few) colleagues. Being timed on tasks including toilet breaks to look at productivity when the job was more than a straight forward call centre work. No appreciation of accumulated experience. Too hot/too cold working conditions. Boring/repetitive jobs in a few workplaces cue lots of clock watching. Feeling like an (unvalued) cog in the system. The list goes on.

I DO hate being at work. I despise it. I feel like a 10 year old with the grownups in charge the instant I walk through the door every day!

This would get on my nerves now at my age (perimenopausal). With younger people no doubt supervising me. I would hate this.

Me!
My dream is to buy a motorhome and go travelling permanently.
I don't get why people stay in the same office, same shop etc for years and years. I would go insane.

"Being timed on tasks including toilet breaks"

WTF??! That is horrendous and should be outlawed

Same, I just need an income without working to actually do it😆
I won't work in an office for the same reason.

I retired after working full time for forty nine years. I had some fairl interesting jobs but hated every single day of my working life. Someone thought I had better learn shorthand and typing. I detested this but had very little choice or option. I went to a Secondary Modern School and “Commercial” was the only option other than shop work .

In my heart i wanted to be a Domestic Science Teacher. You could not take “O” levels at a Secondary Modern School and GCSEs would not get me into College. I would have been really good at teaching Domestic Science too - it is one of my life’s regrets.

This post gives my age away - Inam nearly 74 and it still hurts.

100% this. Being able to stop work and arrange my life as I want it is my dream. It feels like such a waste of existence.

I definitely think it's the type of job. I remember doing 2 weeks work experience in Year 10 in an office and that was enough to put me off for life. Retail was just as mind numbing for me, even high end. The most rewarding jobs I've ever had were in elderly care and education. Both of which the pay is sh*te, however saying that, if I won the lottery tomorrow I wouldn't give up my current job for the world. There are ups and downs and every day is a challenge and is different from the next. I have a lot of love and compassion for the children I work with and am emotionally invested. Even on the hardest days I feel grateful to be part of the team. I think, OP, you just need to find what it is that motivates you and work towards that even if that is a volunteering thing on the side of your current job that pays the bills.

The thing that traps most people is housing. Most people can live without designer clothes or expensive cars or holidays in nice hotels. But no one wants to live on a horrible estate in a depressing part of town with violent neighbours and their feral kids (goes without saying that even on the worst estate you'll find lovely people as well). The UK is so small, and so densely populated, that property developers take advantage. They build tiny, rabbit hutch houses, with thin walls, and then jam as many on top of another as possible. More and more people are fighting for less and less space. To live near fields, with a bit of space and silence to de-tress, you need money. We might be richer than our grandparents generation, but in terms of quality of life, we're worse off.

Totally agree with you OP. I'm in the process of checking pensions etc to see when I can retire. I was hoping it would be 55 but it's likely to be 60 😒 I'm struggling to see how I will do another year in my job, never mind another 9!

@Catinahat643746 good list.

I really like my current job and feel suitably stimulated... It's lower paid and basic but I can carry on...

@JaneyGee totally agree... Lots it those 70s blocks wheres pulled down and yet more are flying up in all towns.

God I only work because I have to. I did have one job that I loved but management changed and I ended up hating it there too so I left.

I am thinking of going into care work which I know is exhausting and badly paid but the bits of every job I've liked were the bits where I was helping people, like actually doing something for them.

It’s just so depressing working a job you hate to pay to live wouldn’t mind if it was enjoyable!

i love most of the people the place I’m in mostly because we all know what a sh*t show it is so share common ground but my dream is to pack off to Spain and live a chilled life just need a few million first! Ha!

Yes this is what my current work has turned into call vibes “average times to complete tasks” how long it takes to resolve things utter ridiculous!

This is why I don’t support bringing back the grammar school system. It condemned too many people to under-qualification and under-employment.

Thankyou!

@CountingMareep I do favour a grammar school/selective school approach. But not the old fashioned secondary modern approach.

I want to see a range of educational opportunities to match children’s skill sets, interests, learning styles etc. so that everyone achieves their potential. Grammar/selective schools are just one option for academic children. Other equally valid options should be available to maximise potential.

However, this does not mean for some of us we don’t have a vocation and work/career is what we do to contribute to society even though if we had the money we would choose not to work.

I love my work, I will be working later today and looking forward to it.
I find the flow, often listen to music or a podcast, with a tea or a glass of wine if I work on a Saturday evening.

@speakout

I’d be interested to know what you do, not many jobs where you can drink alcohol when you are at work. In many jobs having alcohol on the premises would be a disciplinary matter.

Not an issue for me. No problem to drink alcohol and work.
I don't do it often, but it's OK.